


Inevitable

by kuonji



Category: Free!
Genre: 5 Things, 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-26 18:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14408391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuonji/pseuds/kuonji
Summary: "Do you think there are alternate universes where we don't get together? Or where we don't even meet?""That's hard to imagine."





	Inevitable

Makoto met Haruka when he was not quite a year old, with Haruka less than five months his senior.

Of course, at that age, four and a half months seemed like a lot. Makoto clung to his mother's blouse as she bowed in greeting to their new neighbors, while Haruka stood on his own beside his mother, holding her hand. The two boys considered each other with the sober curiosity of babies.

Ten seconds into their first meeting, Makoto began to fuss. He was a quiet baby, more given to insistent babbling when upset rather than crying. His parents, confused and embarrassed, tried to soothe him, to little avail.

Then Haruka squirmed, dropping his mother's hand to scrub furiously at his eyes. "Haru-chan?" his mother asked, kneeling to look at him. She tried to pry his small hands away from his eyes to see if anything had gotten into them.

At the same time, both boys started crying. Makoto buried his tiny face in his mother's shoulder and heaved loud sobs in the rhythm his parents recognized as expressing fright. Haruka fell back on his bottom and wailed, face scrunched in what was either anger or surprise.

Both sets of parents, derailed from their standard, if pleasingly congenial, meet-and-greet, were at a loss.

"Oh, do you think...?" Makoto's mother was the first to suggest it. Kneeling down, she placed Makoto gently on the ground next to his new neighbor. Makoto didn't stop crying, but he let go of his mother to latch onto Haruka's arm instead. Her husband understood her immediately. He ducked into the house and returned with a bright red koi kite from their son's first Boy's Day three months ago. He waved it in front of the children.

Haruka, blinking rapidly, reached out to touch the flimsy tissue paper. His large, deep blue eyes, still shiny with tears, were fixed to the new object.

"Poor things, all the colors at such a young age. It must have fried their brains." Haruka's father knelt next to his son. He pointed at the kite. "That's red, Haruka. Red."

Haruka wasn't given to baby talk. On the rare occasions when he spoke, it was usually clearly pronounced proper names, accompanied by pointing at what he wanted. A year later, he would speak his first sentence with no prior warning, startling his mother into dropping a plate of fruit into the sink. For now, he seemed to absorb this new word with utter concentration, perhaps understanding its significance.

Makoto peeked up from his newfound soulmate's shoulder. He babbled a few words in his personal nonsense language. Haruka tilted his head at this and patted the other boy's head clumsily.

"Well, given the circumstances, why don't you come in for some tea?"

"Normally, we wouldn't impose, but this is a special situation, isn't it?"

The Nanases took the Tachibanas' invitation. Their sons, oblivious to the reason behind the drama surrounding their first meeting, were carried inside for an impromptu playdate that would become a near-daily event as they grew up together, side by side.

***

"It's a good thing they met so early. It'd have been a nightmare living with them as teenagers, with those soulwords."

"Oh, goodness, yes. Can you just imagine! Every new crush would have been such an utter tragedy."

While Haruka's mother lowered her son into the ready bath, Makoto's mother finished rinsing her son's hair. The slippery water trailed down his neck and flowed in between his little shoulder blades, where the word _Mako-chan_ meandered in shaky, odd-sized hiragana. His friend, splashing happily away, called out his name: "Ma-ko-chan! Ma-ko-chan!" At three years old, he could work up quite a splash. His mother, used to this, was in a tank top and shorts.

"Haru-chan, Mama's getting all wet," she chided, tucking a damp strand of hair behind one ear.

Haruka stopped splashing. He looked around the room. "Mama is wet. Auntie is wet. Everything is wet!" He looked pleased about this. "Mako-chan, get in the water with Haru-chan!"

In answer, Makoto rocked to his feet and ran for the tub, his arms stretched out. "Haru-chan! Bath!" Hitting the tub at waist-height, he flipped over with a squawk and tumbled inside. His mother caught him before his face hit the water, but he started to sniffle nonetheless.

"Don't cry." Haruka reached out and gave his friend a hug. _Mako-chan_ flared to light on Makoto's back, and his sniffles transformed into a delighted grin. Simultaneously, on Haruka's back, a choppily scrawled string of meaningless syllables, _manaunbaba_ , lit up briefly, too, as it always did when the boys were excited. Both words looked like they had been traced like pictures by hands barely able to hold writing implements.

"You're my best friend, Haru-chan!" Makoto declared.

"Soulmate," the more serious boy corrected.

"Both!"

Haruka tilted his head, considering. "Both," he agreed.

***

Most kids learned about soulmates sometime in the first few years of daycare and public school. Someone would have heard it from their parents or older siblings, and then it would have gotten passed around until the whole school knew.

By second grade, Makoto and Haru weren't even a little surprised when, on the first day of school, half the class crowded around them, clamoring to look at their eyes and asking rapid questions. 

Their teacher, choosing to harness the children's energy instead of fruitlessly attempt to curb it, started the first day with a lecture on soulmate homochromatism, causing Makoto to squeeze his green eyes closed and Haru to sigh and lay his head down with his own blue eyes trained on his soulmate.

Each of them had been born with mismatching eyes, like everyone else, but the day Haru's family had moved to his grandmother's house, that had changed. Neither of them remembered the event when it had happened. As far as they knew, they'd been this way their whole lives. It was special, yes, but not unusual for them. The attention embarrassed Makoto and irritated Haru, even if they could understand the reason for it.

A few of the other kids had met their soulmates already as well. In a small town, that was less common but inevitable. It was a coincidence, however, for a couple to meet each other so young when their parents hadn't known each other previously, and then for them to live so very close afterwards, in both the physical and metaphorical sense of the word. They were an anomaly within an anomaly.

As the impromptu lecture wound down, Makoto continued blushing fixedly down at his desk. Haru leaned across the aisle and tugged on his sleeve. Their eyes met. Once, they'd shared two pairs of eyes. Now, they both had their own, but it was the rest of their lives that they shared.

Makoto smiled. Haru offered him a tiny smile back. And all was right with the world again.

***

"I'm Rin Matsuoka. It's a girl's name, but I'm a boy."

_Well, obviously. Does he think he's so special?_

_Haru, don't be rude._

_He's looking at me._

_Maybe he's just looking for his seat._

_No, he's staring at me._

"Hi! Nanase, right? I saw you at the swim meet."

Haru glared at the new transfer student. _You see?_

_Okay, okay. I was wrong. Say hello._

_No._

_Haru!_

"Hello," Haru said, with every evidence of reluctance.

The kid bounced his gaze between the two of them, his red hair waving with the motion. "What's going on?"

"They're soulmates," Rika-chan told him, giggling.

"No kidding? That's awesome! How come you're in the same class together?"

_Here we go. Why didn't he transfer at the start of the school year?_

Soulmates were typically separated to prevent cheating and distractions, but Haru and Makoto had been together so long that they could communicate clear across town. Putting them in different classes would have only caused anxiety and even more distraction -- to the children and the teachers alike.

Luckily, they were spared having to explain by the teacher rapping her ruler lightly on the edge of the lectern.

"That's enough talking, everyone. Welcome to the class, Rin-kun. Now, let's get started. Get out your geography books and turn to page..."

***

"Is it all right for both of them to be on our team?" Ikuya looked them over with curiosity. Soulmate pairs in junior high were still unusual enough to garner attention. Soulmate pairs on sports teams were both a problem and an advantage. The rules for professional sports seemed always in flux.

"It's not breaking any rules, as long as they're not next to each other in the exchange."

"That was the rule at our swim club too," Makoto informed them. "But does the bond really help?"

Nao-senpai half-shrugged. "Coach has shown us some studies on soulmate pair relays. They're not conclusive, but the rule's there to make everyone feel it's fair."

"It's a good thing I don't swim butterfly, then, since Haru only swims free. Right, Haru?"

As usual, Haru was content to let everyone think he silently agreed with the group. In fact, having Makoto waiting for him at the end of the lane always made him swim faster. Makoto told him it wasn't cheating, because it was only motivation, not a physical enhancement. Haru didn't care either way, as long as no one stopped him from swimming with his soulmate.

Being in different classes this year was difficult. Their soulmate bond comforted Makoto when they were apart. For Haru, however, it sometimes manifested as anxiety. Knowing exactly where Makoto was at any given moment but unable to be with him was almost worse than not knowing. Almost. Swim club was the only time they were together, and there were all these new people distracting them. He didn't like it.

For Makoto, junior high was stressful for a different reason. He'd relied on Haru his whole life, the background thrum of their bond making him feel safe. He needed to grow up now, needed to find his identity away from his lifelong crutch -- and he was having trouble figuring out how. Somehow, he'd still wound up in the swim club with Haru, on the relay team with Haru, speaking for Haru...

After the club meeting ended and everyone else was scattering toward the showers, Haru touched the back of his hand to his friend's. The frisson of pleasure drew Makoto's attention. Haru's expression was a question. He could tell Makoto was conflicted about something.

Maybe Makoto was being too hard on them. They were supposed to always be together, after all. There was no reason to fight that. He should look for a different way to become stronger. If he talked it over with Haru, maybe they could come up with some ideas as partners.

He took his soulmate's hand. "I'm glad you're here, Haru."

"Of course, I'm here, Makoto. Where else would I be?"

***

"Makoto."

"Hm?"

"Do you think there are alternate universes where we don't get together? Or where we don't even meet?"

"That's hard to imagine. Do you?"

"Maybe. Probably."

"I'm sure there are more universes where we do, though."

"Yeah, you're right. Makoto."

"Yes?"

"Do you think there's some universe where we saw each other for the first time, and we just _knew_ that we're meant for each other?"

"Yes, of course. This one."

"You're ridiculous."

"Do you deny it?"

"No."

  
END.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this story, you might try these:  
> [Running](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13723086) (Free!), by kuonji  
> [Omelets And Cats](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12939165) (Free!), by kuonji  
> [Descendants](https://archiveofourown.org/works/956480) (due South/Battlestar Gallactica), by kuonji  
> [Five AUs That Should Not Happen](https://archiveofourown.org/works/250862) (Gundam SEED), by kuonji  
> [Scribble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13919697) (Free!), by hapgen  
> [Read My Mind](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5586538) (Free!), by CheekyBrunette


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